One of the great things about literary festivals such as the Hay Festival here in Kells is the serendipity of it all, heading into the unknown and finding something wonderful. It’s great when yo listen to someone and don’t want them to stop. The name Paula Leyden was in my mind somewhere like a tree …
Category Archives: Arts
Hay at Kells and Aonach Tailteann
In half an hour I’m heading off to Teltown, a placename that seems to come right out of a children’s story book or a TV cartoon for under-5s. This particular Teltown, however, is in County Meath, near Kells where a satellite of the literature festival heid in Hay-on-Wye is running until Sunday. But if we …
Can’t Forget About You … or David Ireland
I was at David Ireland’s uproarious play Can’t Forget About You at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast on Thursday night and it was even better the second time around. The audience, which included comedienne Victoria Wood, were rolling in the aisles in a story where Stevie (Declan Rodgers), a 25-year-old Belfast boy falls in love with …
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The Seamus Heaney Tribute Band
Wakes, in my experience, are great craic. That is not to make light of the deceased or of the pain of kith and kin, but more a nod to the mixture of joyful reminiscence and celebration that distracts for a while the ineluctable sense of loss. And so it was at the Lyric Theatre …
Culture Night 2012
One of the most enjoyable nights I every spent in my native city was on Belfast’s first Culture Night, a balmy evening filled with wonderment and magic and smiles. The Cathedral Quarter was like the bit of The Wizard of Oz which goes from monochrome to technicolor. On September 21st this year, Culture Night will …
Digital Derry
While all eyes are on 2013, there is much going on in Derry in the lead up to City of Culture year. One of the most exciting events, in my humble opinion, is Culture Tech, a four-day celebration of digital technology, media and music which will run in the Maiden City betwen August 29th and September …
A Titanic play but this time it’s personal
If you’re expecting a Julian Fellowes-type history of the Titanic, then you might end up a tad disappointed by Jimmy McAleavey’s new play Titans which has more to do with horror films and video games and Dante’s Inferno than with Downtown Abbey. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. The hour-long drama will perambulate around …
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